Topic: Bhairava Raga

[Nichi]

Bhairava Raga, a king surrounded by ladies of the court, one of whom applies sandal paste to his shoulder. Place of Origin  Hyderabad, India. Date  ca. 1740.

See full view here (click and enlarge): http://media.vam.ac.uk/collections/img/2013/GD/2013GD6937_2500.jpg

[Nichi]

Ragamala painting, opaque watercolour on paper, depicting Siva being rubbed with sandalwood paste, illustration to the musical mode Bhairava Raga. Deccan, India. Date ca. 1700.

[Nichi]

Bhairava Raga, featuring Krishna & Radha, Hyderabad, c.1770.   

Best view (click and enlarge): http://media.vam.ac.uk/collections/img/2013/GK/2013GK0482_2500.jpg

[Nichi]

Raga Bhairava. Lithograph artiste Krishno Bishto Das from Calcutta, per request of Sourindramohan Tagore (1840-1914).

(In many of the Ragamala sets, Raga Bhairava is the first one, and is a depiction of Shiva alone, as here.)

[Nichi]

Bhairava Raga. Page from a dispersed ragamala series (Garland of Ragas). Artist/maker unknown, Indian. Made in Kota, Rajasthan or Bundi, Rajasthan. Date: c. 1700-1750

The very first raga in the standard ragamala set is presided over by Bhairava, a terrifying aspect of the god Shiva. The wrathful Bhairava usually wears an apron of human bones and carries a skull, double drum, noose, and trident in his many hands. In the ragamala tradition, however, he assumes a more benign form. He is shown here with only two arms. He rests on a lotus throne, his wife Parvati seated beside him. Rather than his typical implements, he holds only a stringed instrument known as a vina. This tamer version of Bhairava may have better suited the aesthetic sensibilities of the royal connoisseurs for whom these ragamala series were made. ~Philadelphia Museum of Art

[Nichi]

"'Bhairava Raga - Man and woman sitting on a dais surrounded by attendants." Circa 1610, Provincial Mughal style, from the Manley Ragamala.

The man is getting his shoulder massaged - probably with sandalwood paste.

[Nichi]

Folio from a dispersed ragamala series: Bhairava Raga. Jaipur, circa 1840-60.

(Here is the original link, where the proprietor mistakenly labeled it as "Bhairavi Ragini", which is a whole other iconography. http://www.indianminiaturepaintings.co.uk/Jaipur_Bhairavi_Ragini_001055.html )

[Nichi]

Bhairava raga, Śiva and Pārvatī with musicians and attendants and Hindi inscription. Gouache on paper. School/style Rajasthan School. Date 1790-1810 (circa)

http://www.britishmuseum.org/research/collection_online/collection_object_details/collection_image_gallery.aspx?assetId=287733001&objectId=182761&partId=1

[Michael]

The very first raga in the standard ragamala set is presided over by Bhairava, a terrifying aspect of the god Shiva. The wrathful Bhairava usually wears an apron of human bones and carries a skull, double drum, noose, and trident in his many hands. In the ragamala tradition, however, he assumes a more benign form. He is shown here with only two arms. He rests on a lotus throne, his wife Parvati seated beside him. Rather than his typical implements, he holds only a stringed instrument known as a vina. This tamer version of Bhairava may have better suited the aesthetic sensibilities of the royal connoisseurs for whom these ragamala series were made. ~Philadelphia Museum of Art

I often wondered about that. In the music also, the Bhairava raga is quite tame and a one of the most common, but I always had difficulty with the knowledge that Bhairava is an extremely heavy dude.

[Nichi]

Bhairava Raga from a dispersed Ragamala series. Śiva with Nandi, cockerel and a female devotee. Rajasthan School. Date 1772. Painted in: Rajasthan.

http://www.britishmuseum.org/research/collection_online/collection_object_details/collection_image_gallery.aspx?assetId=349811001&objectId=233489&partId=1

[Nichi]

I often wondered about that. In the music also, the Bhairava raga is quite tame and a one of the most common, but I always had difficulty with the knowledge that Bhairava is an extremely heavy dude.

It does create a lot of confusion, especially for someone learning the ragamala systems, the rasakaprika systems, and the Hindu pantheon all at the same time!

I think perhaps, during those centuries anyway, Shiva might have been most known as Bhairava. And simultaneously, Shiva is the lord of music. So at least it makes sense on some level that he would be the one presiding over ragamala. ~Just speculation here.

[Michael]

Shiva's precursor was Rudra. Not sure when he drew forth the Bhairava, but it's not a face anyone would want to visit.

[Nichi]

Shiva's precursor was Rudra. Not sure when he drew forth the Bhairava, but it's not a face anyone would want to visit.

I wonder why "Bhairava" was chosen -- seems that Mahadev would have been better. Or surely there were many others from which to choose.

Someone pointed out that sandalwood paste calms ... that lingams are rubbed with it in order to 'cool down' Shiva's hot temper. Hence the consistency of women rubbing paste on Bhairava's shoulders and chest in the ragamala images.

If only we could time-travel into the 16th and 17th centuries, to see what the conventions really were in those days.

Another tid-bit possibly off-topic: I read reference to British soldiers burning a lot of this art during their tenure. It was mentioned via a story of how a certain colonel intervened, and hence bought up many of the paintings. So what we see of any of it was basically funneled through British sensibilities. That's a shame.

[Nichi]

Sandalwood paste ... I'll bet it lowers blood pressure.

[Michael]

Oddly enough, I think tests show it lifts blood pressure.